


formula.

by orphan_account



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 18:52:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17903615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Suddenly, they're going in the same direction.[Post 16x13; short/optional "sequel" to algorithim]





	formula.

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [algorithm.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17763902) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account). 



Jack wouldn’t exactly call herself a patient woman. More like, she liked to wait until just the right moment and no longer to strike. It worked in her practice; where clients only needed to hear themselves speak in order to come to the right conclusions by themselves, and it worked in interrogation, too- since most criminals hated silence almost as much as they hated justice. 

Not that she would have that chance with Gibbs, whose silver-blue eyes were glowering at her from the couch across from her desk. He was deathly still, save for the hand resting on her armrest that curled in and out of a fist as his breathing slowed and deepened. At least now, she knew that he was listening when she’d taught him about how to ground himself, while they’d shared breakfast at the diner a few weeks before. 

“Gibbs-“, she started, trying to keep him calm. From what she had seen and heard; Gibbs and Nick had almost come to blows in the bullpen below after he and Ducky had caught Nick and Ellie with their pants down (not literally, Jack could only hoped) in one of the conference rooms. There was something almost comically juvenile about it- that Jack could see becoming a story that Ellie would someday tell her friends over a few drinks, if she could keep Gibbs enough at bay not to fire her on the spot, of course. 

“-I know that Ziva’s case brought up a lot of things that you would rather keep in the past, and to be honest, you and me both-“

”Nope.”, Gibbs said curtly, cutting her off. “I’m not doing this.” 

He stood stiffly, moving to leave her office. His body was vibrating with a transparent, static rage, and Jack could only think of what more would be said if she let him back at Torres’ throat. 

“Oh, yes we are-“, she muttered, sidestepping swiftly to wedge her body between he and her door, pressing her hand to his chest, where she could feel a strong, solid resistance. Interesting; that he was angry enough to actively resist her. Or troubling; that she could tell all he wanted in that moment was his agents on the other side of a verbal flamethrower for breaking one of his most important rules. Jack had heard the younger agents crack wise about Rule 12 in the past, but truthfully, she could understand where Gibbs was coming from.

She remembered what it was like; perfect bodies in skintight clothing, hours spent in close quarters crying tears on each other’s shoulders, and falling asleep; dreamless, in each other’s arms. It was only natural for agents to start to develop feelings for one another, but if anything went further than that, things could get irreparably messy, and fast.

”You know what? Fine. You can pick him up from county jail after a bar fight, and you can try to keep her calm when she's on your doorstep crying. That's how this ends, Jack. Don't have to be a psychologist to figure that out." 

"Gibbs...", she sighed. "You don't know that." 

"Uh-huh. Hope she's on the pill, too." 

"Gibbs.", Jack said, her voice slightly sharper as she fixed him with a look that told him he was dangerously close to crossing a line. She pushed back lightly at his chest, leading him back towards the couch in her office. "Let's just take a couple minutes, okay?" 

He followed, folding into the cushions, his eyes searching hers as she settled behind him. 

"I don't know how to do this.", he said; his gravelly voice finally filling the charged silence in the room. "I- you know, things are changing. They're different, and I don't know, Jack- I don't have the playbook for how it is now."

Jack nodded, glancing at the photo of her and Izzy, leaning up against Bodhi on the beach in California. There it was- the last little piece of this puzzle clicking into place. Gibbs' team was a family; and while she wasn't exactly sure where he would let her fit in, it was clear as day that like every other family, they had secrets that ran like an undercurrent; tipping their balances just ever so slightly enough to steer them all off course. Gibbs blamed himself for nature; for not being able to stand between his family and the horrors of the world- especially not when it counted in his eyes. If his rules couldn't protect them from themselves, then what good was he? She felt for him; the dull ache in her chest flaring suddenly as she thought of herself on the opposite side of this conversation, if she had been the one whose daughter was about to ruin her career for a boy; at least from his point of view. Jack chuckled to herself, the irony of her own desperation for that fantasy to come to life coupled with Gibbs hardly realizing how lucky he was to have a family to worry about not lost on her in the slightest.

"That funny to you? You gonna tell me the rules are BS, too?"

She shook her head; burying the bitterness in heart for a moment as she turned her attention back to him. "Oh, I would never.", she teased. 

"But, while we figure out how to do this, Cowboy-", she said, lightly tapping his arm. "I'm going to suggest we fall back on what we know." 

"That letting Bishop and Torres do this is a bad idea?" 

"No, Gunny- we're going to send this up the chain of command. But in the meantime- I do have a few books here we could look at-" 

-

Director Vance could almost feel his eyes turn themselves backwards in his head as he read the memo that his assistant had placed in front of him. He was just about to call her back; hoping she wasn't serious, but instead, he took a deep breath, shook his head, and clicked the Big Dog pen that Kasie had given him.

One of these days, he would run out of patience for Agent Gibbs, but apparently, today was not that day. Today, it seemed, Gibbs was offloading his fatherly duties up the chain. He picked up his intercom phone, and asked his assistant to send them in. If he had to do this; he may as well have a good time while he was at it.

"Agent Bishop. Agent Torres.", he greeted, as the two of them came stumbling into the room, practically tripping over each other. Bishop was white as a sheet, looking like she was about to find herself guilty of treason, while Torres, trying to put up a brave front for his partner, no doubt, was just a bit less pale as he pulled out a chair from the Director's conference table for her to sit.

"Uh, yeah- you wanted to see us, Director?", he said, trying to sound casual, as though it was a daily occurrence for the two of them to be pulled from an active case and up to his office. Vance regarded Bishop with a passing glance, remembering the time that she had served as his Special Agent in Charge. Maybe, someday- for her, it would be as frequent a call as it was for Gibbs, though he shuddered to think of what the next generation of his house had in store for the agency.

"Yes, I did. You can take a seat, too, Torres."

"Yeah- I was. I mean, I will, now.", he muttered, flustered as he sank into a chair beside Bishop, who bit down on her bottom lip out of either sheer terror or disbelief that he couldn't compose himself in this moment.

"I've been wondering- how are the two of you finding your work here at NCIS?"

"Great."

"Great-yeah, we love- I love, the work. The opportunity we have to help the people who serve our country. That's great.", Bishop sputtered, a nervous smile cracking across her face.

"Mmmhmm. And, would you say that, given that the two of you have very unique skillsets, that we have an environment here where you feel motivated to improve on your capabilities?", he asked, eyes still trained down to the memo on his desk. He couldn't deny that this was fun, sometimes- watching his agents squirm like this.

"Absolutely, director. I didn't even know what the APA or the MLA were until Ellie and I started working on this paper about covert tactics to use in domestic terror investigations-", Nick started, only to be silenced by a wide-eyed look from his partner. "I mean, yes- we, and I feel that this agency is very, uh- supportive." 

"Good, that's what we like to hear.", Vance said, nodding, as he tapped his pen on the paper on his desk, signing his name with the appropriate flourish. "Now-", he continued, fixing both agents with as intense a look as he could muster while trying to hold back his own laughter. 

"If I ever, no matter how rumored or unsubstantiated it is- ever hear of the two of you treating one of my conference rooms like it's the back of your mom's car in the early 2000's, I will not be so kind. And don't even think of pulling this stunt in interrogation, either. I have been there, Agents Bishop and Torres. I understand the appeal of little Good Cop, Bad Cop game...or Autopsy-", he paused, to shake his head, watching as both Bishop and Torres' expressions turned from fear to utter, properly shamed terror. "I've heard those stories about Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, too. I do not want to ever hear stories about the two of you." 

He let them squirm in their chairs for a few more moments, before he finally let a smile crack accross his face. 

“Are we clear, Agents?” 

“Y-yes, sir.” 

“Clear as a bell, sir.” 

“Good. Now the two of you, go on out of here. And send Agents Gibbs and Sloane to me when you see them. Now, the stories I’ve heard about them...”

**Author's Note:**

> I just didn't feel like there was a place for a Gibbs and Ellie conversation here, which some people had asked for, so I just opted for some Ellick funny bits instead :) But I might do other Gibbs/Sloane assuming their role as the team mom and dad stuff just because I love Slibbs lol
> 
> Hope you guys still enjoyed it!


End file.
